Texting service offers answers, jobs

The kgb is out there and it’s waiting.

Right now, hundreds of “special agents” are online, interacting with the populace. Some are even on the Chico State campus.

There is no cause for concern over another Cold War because this kgb is actually a company, and its “special agents” are employees whose job is to answer questions.

“They answer any question on any topic,” said Adam Miller, a kgb spokesman.

People can text message questions on any topic to 542542 and they should receive an answer in minutes.

Kgb stands for “knowledge generation bureau” and is popular among college students, Miller said.

“The kgb special agents are agents of knowledge,” he said. “It’s a good way to earn extra cash and you’re learning at the same time.”

There are thousands of agents across the country and kgb is constantly looking for new employees, Miller said. Employees range from students to housewives, though the majority of employees are college students. “Agents” are paid 10 cents for every question they answer and they respond to an average of 30 and 50 questions per a shift, which can be two hours or longer.

Freshman Amber Whiteside is a “special agent” for kgb, who took the job a month ago after hearing about it from a friend. In order to be hired, she had to take an online test and search for answers to questions in a certain amount of time.

Whiteside admitted the test was “pretty hard” but is glad she has the job. In her first month she made $33, working about six hours a week.

However, she was concerned about balancing school with a job.

“Being a freshman, I didn’t want to be overwhelmed with having a real job,” she said. “It’s flexible and I can do it whenever I need to.”

Going to work isn’t a hassle for Whiteside because she can just get on a computer whenever she wants. After people text message questions to 542542, the questions show up on the database for “special agents” to answer. “Agents” have to answer the question in 120 words or fewer and give the source they used within minutes.

“It’s pretty easy and it helps out because a lot of people don’t have Internet on their phones,” Whiteside said.

Though “special agents” are given a list of suggested sites to use, Whiteside usually goes to Google to answer her questions.

“I get a lot of questions about cheats and codes for video games,” Whiteside said. “Late at night, you get the weirdest questions ever. I think people just get bored.”

Bizarre questions do occasionally come in.

“We get the question ‘can you milk a hamster?’ a lot,” Whiteside said. “You can, but we don’t recommend it.”

If a special agent doesn’t feel comfortable answering a question, he or she can send an auto-response to the sender, who will not be charged for the question.

“We get a lot of relationship questions,” Whiteside said. “I feel like I’m a relationship advice person.”

As far as keeping it as a long-term job, Whiteside is realistic, she said.

“It’s temporary, so it’s not something I’m going to be doing forever,” she said. “It doesn’t make enough money to make a career out of it.”

Lara Wells, office manager for the Student Employment Office, had never heard of the company before, but urged students to be wary before doing research. Wells suggests students focus on resume building jobs.

Though the job may be “enticing” and seem easy, people should be even more vigilant when looking into its integrity, Wells said.

“I’m not saying this is a scheme, but there are a lot of sketchy things out there,” Wells said.

Bianca Hernandez can be reached at
bhernandez@theorion.com